A Valkyrja's Vindication
by ZackOfSpades
Summary: When banished into a new world where her role is unclear, to what lengths will a Valkyrja once deemed useless go to in order to change her fate?
1. Chapter 1

**(It's been a year since I've started playing Summoners War, and for all the relative difficulties and burn-outs I've had from it, the game has managed to keep me captivated for so long. Of course, having so many cute monsters to add to the collection never hurt.**  
 **These same monsters have inspired me. It's made me want to give them personalities and roles the game simply doesn't let them have. So I guess, in a way, this story will be a love letter to those monsters. But not the game. Nuh uh.**  
 **While I will be explaining the world in which this story is taking place as I go along, I'd like to state right now that while the game has been used as a background for it, I've tried to make it and some of the lore from scratch.**  
 **Also, I consider myself a decent writer, but I haven't written anything creative in about...3 years or so? So I may be a little rusty, but hopefully I'll get back into the flow of things. Case in point, this first chapter is kind of messy, but I can't figure out how to improve on it. Any help in the form of advice or feedback is appreciated!**  
 **Anyway, enough of an introduction, let's give this first chapter a shot. Hope you enjoy!)**

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Chapter 1: A Rude Introduction

 _"You're not the one."_  
The words, seared into her consciousness, echoed inside of her head.  
 _"You're useless."_  
She could feel the sting of the words as if they were being said aloud. She didn't want to be useless. She had tried her hardest to succeed, to prove she was worthy. Yet, the voices of contempt persisted, intensifying as others around her had flourished and were heaped with praise.  
 _"Be gone, worthless unit."_  
She could feel the ground fall away beneath her, swallowed by her own anguish, falling into the dark, empty void beneath, unable to make a sound as she kept falling...and falling...and falling. The voices began to fade, replaced with silence, as if the darkness was drowning out sound along with site. She could only close her eyes, perhaps forever. Who would miss her anyway?

To her surprise, she awoke, eyes slowly opening, greeted by the sight of a stunning blue sky, the clouds growing smaller and smaller in front of her.  
She gasped, barely audible against the increasing noise of the wind in her ears, and she realized she was still falling. But instead of falling into a black void like she was drowning in water, it was a rapid descent, slowed only by numerous collisions with the branches and foliage of trees that battered and scraped her while she fell, before finally hitting the less-than-lenient ground with a force that knocked the breath out of her.  
Still conscious, she laid still on the ground, fighting through the pain wracking her body to try and process what had just happened. She had obviously fallen, but she couldn't have fallen that far, seeing as she was still in one piece, and she could still feel her limbs and the rest of her body, however much they hurt. But where she had fallen from, she had no clue, nor did she understand any of the context behind her vision of falling into a void of pitch-black, or even recall how she had ended up falling in the first place.  
"Think." She groaned to herself, trying to muster the effort to at least sit up. Her body protested furiously, but obeyed her as she rose, her sight still shaky and her senses dulled from the fall, too busy fighting the pain in her body and mind to focus. But as they began to fade, she started to remember, bit by bit.  
"I am Vanessa." She breathed, visually checking her body as her sight cleared, relieved to find no external wounds on her bare thighs, one of the few areas of her body that was not covered in dulled metal armor that once shone red and gold.  
The relief turned to concern however, as her memory betrayed her beyond recalling her own name. Who had she been before? Why had she been deemed worthless by the voices in her vision, or was said vision nothing more than a bad dream?  
The answers were not forthcoming, and her heart sank, realizing they simply weren't there. Whether her memory had been lost or locked away in the recesses of her mind, they weren't going to be found just by sitting around, she knew that much.  
Reluctantly, she rose to her feet, her body still aching in numerous locations, having to fight to stay balanced on her feet. The dry, grassy earth crunched faintly beneath her sabatons, having been kept dry by the dense cover of trees above and all around. Scanning the area, Vanessa could see the rows of trees -hardwood variants, she guessed- go on for seemingly forever, providing no hint of where she should head to escape the forest she had crash-landed into, or any sign of life inhabiting it. She sighed, her choices limited to proceeding into the unknowing, or waiting in futility, and the immediately dismissed the latter as an option. So she set off on her way, a lone, lost female seeking answers, and guidance.

It didn't take long for Vanessa to find the first sign of life, the problem was that it was not friendly in the slightest.  
Just as the forest began to thin ever so slightly, she heard something rustle nearby, and tensed instinctively.  
"Hello?" She called cautiously, not knowing what was making the noise. Only silence greeted her, so she tried again.  
"Is someone there?" She asked. "I need some help. You see, I don't know where I am, or how I got here. Is there a town or anyone else nearby?"  
Her question got another rustle in response, having gotten the attention of someone, or something. But nothing was said it return.  
"Please...?" She continued, a hint of desperation creeping into her tone.  
Then it was all silent again, like the air was holding its breath. Vanessa crept towards the sound of the rustling, right behind the wide trunk of a tree. The rustling intensified, accompanied by heavy, laborious breathing, in a tone that sounded somehow less than human.  
Letting blind hope dictate her moves, she took another step forward, eyes trained on the one tree, not watching where she was placing her feet.  
Her first mistake.  
With her focus on the tree in front of her, she didn't realize she was about to step on an old, thin branch that had been partially hidden in the grass. The decayed wood gave way beneath her feet, crunching loudly, and the breathing grew louder, turning into a snarl.  
Vanessa realized that what she had crept up to was not human, and only had time to turn around before a primal roar rose from behind the tree, so loud and angry that the air seemed to tremble around it.  
Her blood turning cold, she started to run, immediately followed by a violent crack behind her, the tree crashing down to the ground. Vanessa couldn't help but turn around. What could have caused a tree, one as wide and firmly rooted as that, to be cleaved in half in one swipe?  
That was her second mistake. Behind the fallen tree, and the jagged stump where it once stood on, stood a beast of massive proportions. Its coat of blue and black fur was mottled and did nothing to hide the hatred in its piercing red eyes, set into the head of a lion, but that itself was rested on the body of a massive man-beast, with each of its arms easily the size of Vanessa's entire body, completed by enormous wings jutting out of its back, and wicked claws that matched its teeth perfectly, along with twisted horns atop its head that looked ready to skewer anything.  
"A chimera?!" Vanessa yelled in horror, breaking out into a run as the beast snorted and stomped after her, shaking the ground beneath it. She cursed in a language she did not even realized she remembered, or knew the name to. The first being she encountered in this forsaken forest happened to be a brutal and powerful chimera? Where was the fairness in that? And why did it have to be the color it was?  
Fortunately for her, the pursuer was not particularly quick, lumbering after her and falling further behind with every stride. But Vanessa kept running. Now that the beast had spotted her, identified her scent and registered her as a source of food, it would not lose track of her. It would hunt her down relentlessly, and if or when she would give out from exhaustion, it would be there.  
Vanessa pushed the thoughts of what it would do to her when it caught up, and sprinted as far from the beast as she could. Despite the fall she had taken upon entering the forest, her body had somewhat recovered, the aching either diminished or being overpowered by the adrenaline in her body. Being lost in the woods and chased by a deadly abomination, she did not need the handicap of having to nurse an injury.  
The forest around her began to blend together, even more so at the speed she was running. The green leaves and brown trunks blurred together, not helped by the sweat that had begun to form and run down her face, threatening to trickle into her eyes and blind her. But the threat of the chimera, still stomping in pursuit behind her, kept her running. Unwilling to repeat her earlier, naive mistakes, Vanessa kept her eyes and senses alert, trying to see any signs of escape through her blurry vision. She couldn't make any more mistakes, not with her life at stake.  
Eventually, Vanessa slowed, unable to keep up her pace forever, and took pause for a breath, calming down her pounding heart while her chest heaved. For the immediate moment, there was no sign of the chimera, but Vanessa was well aware of having to keep moving. If she couldn't run, she would just walk at a quick clip.  
As she moved, the forest began to thin just a little more, and the first sign of any other activity in the seemingly endless crowd of trees began to reveal themselves, in the shape of a set of hunting traps, made of rope and cleverly concealed in the grassy ground and assumedly pressure-sensitive, ready to trap any unsuspecting animal by the foot and leave them suspended helplessly in the air. Careful to not trigger the traps herself, Vanessa tiptoed her way around them, giving a generous berth to the ropes, trying to get any hints onto who may have set them. Surely, whoever set them would not have come from very far off.

Her hunch was right. Still trying to run, even though her energy reserves were running out, she finally saw an opening in the forest, like a light at the end of a long and dark tunnel. With new-found energy, she sprinted for it, and burst out into and open field, briefly blinded by the unobstructed light of the sun. Exhausted, she fell forward, collapsing onto the tall grass below, knees first before the rest of her body came down. Running from the chimera had tired her out more than she had realized, and if anyone else was around, she would have been embarrassed by her lack of stamina. Even in her fatigued state and lack of memory, she felt her stamina should have held out for longer.  
Not that it mattered. She was finally free of the forest, but had no strength to continue across the unexplored land. The feeling in her legs were gone, and so was her hope. If the chimera came out of the forest now, she would be nothing more than easy fodder for it.  
 _'This is it?'_ She thought to herself. _'No clue of my past, and no future to find out?'_  
She couldn't muster any strength to answer her own question, and her eyes closed again. Had she been able to hold out for only a little longer, she would have heard two pairs of light footsteps heading towards her, not expecting to find a collapsed female bearing a very familiar crest upon her incomplete, winged helmet.


	2. Chapter 2

**(I honestly don't know how good the first chapter was. It felt a little disjointed to me personally, but I usually don't do too well when the focus is just one character being relatively alone. And that's about to change, as you'll soon find out. Onwards to Chapter 2!)**

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 **Chapter 2: A Friendly Face**

 _"The cycle of elements. Water, fire, wind, water again. You, a warrior of fire birthed from the flames, must avoid facing the water. Let the colors warn you of the elements. And do not fear the light or the darkness, for they are only dangerous to themselves, and only to the extent of the individual possessing them."_

Much like before, reawakening was an unexpected surprise to Vanessa. The last memory she had was collapsing in a field of green, like the meat in a salad waiting to be fed to a hungry, relentless chimera. Yet there was no sign of the beast, or even the field.  
Instead, she found herself on her back, resting atop a layer of tightly-packed straw under a sheet of thin cloth, surrounded by a sight she had long forgotten; the solid, stone walls of a man-made shelter.  
She let out a sigh of relief. There were no trees or beasts of any kind within the small, silent room, although any hope of the memories simply being a bad dream was dashed upon rising, her body feeling weary and weak, as if she had been pulled limb from limb.  
Not willing to fight back against the pain, she relaxed, laying out flat and staring up to the flat, wooden ceiling, before glancing around at her surroundings. A small, foggy window sat on one of the walls, giving her a view of a cloudy sky from her position on the floor. Her helmet had been removed, the topless, winged head armor set down next to a mirror, the reflective surface compact enough to be held in her hands. The rest of her armor was still equipped to her, presumably as her rescuer had not wished to lay eyes upon her naked body.  
A twinge of curiosity wriggled into her thoughts, now that she was safe. Who had been her savior, having been courteous not just to find her, but to take her in and provide her a spot of rest? Where was this particular spot? Had her rescuer avoided the chimera that had chased her, or did he or she have to confront the beast? And if so, what had happened?  
As much as she wanted answers to her questions, her body hurt too much to move, and she was not willing to further injure herself trying. So she lay still on the ground, pondering the possibilities before fatigue caught up to her once again, and she did not hesitate to give in to sleep again.

Waking up again, Vanessa could muster the strength to sit up and reach for the nearby mirror, getting the first view of her own self in her recent memory. The past events had not been kind to her. She looked weak and gaunt, her shining red eyes ringed by a layer of grime that covered her face and her silky black hair that tumbled down to her shoulders.  
Pulling back the sheet that covered her, she could see that her legs and arms had also garnered splotches of dirt and grime, although her armor was still as she had remembered, from the sabatons up to the open-handed gauntlets and the plates that covered her chest, shoulders and hips. She could not see any wounds or cuts to her skin, or any part of her to be missing, so she assumed that she was still physically fine, if recovering from exhaustion.  
Setting the mirror down, she picked up her helmet and held it out, staring into the insignia on its front, the meaning of it still evading her.  
She didn't have long to dwell on the emblem, however, as a knock on the door raised her eyes away from it.  
"Yes? Come in." She responded, her voice hoarse to her own ears.  
The wooden door creaked and swung open, and to Vanessa's relief, another human entered, revealing a young man clad in gleaming white armor, shining as bright as his icy blue eyes or his silvery, wavy and sizeable sword. He might have been trying to appear strong and flashy, but Vanessa couldn't see past his warm, welcoming smile, or the impish, excited light in his eyes.  
And she could not ignore his hair either. In a quick glance, Vanessa was convinced he had more hair than she did. The silvery hair stood upright on his head, like a dancing fire standing still, complete with a thin, jagged ponytail protruding out from behind his helmet, similarly topless like hers.  
"Oh good, you're awake." He said, scratching at the side of his cheek. "We were getting worried, especially since you haven't been awake for nearly two days."  
Vanessa was taken aback, her eyes widening. Two days? Had she pushed herself that far?  
The knightly visitor only chuckled. "I'm sorry, was it something I said?"  
Vanessa shook her head, trying not to look at him. Being teased by a stranger was discomforting, even though this particular stranger seemed friendly and didn't mean any harm.  
"Perhaps it's not the best way to be introduced." He laughed, before clearing his throat. "My name is Darion, a vagabond-turned-member of the town guard. Pleased to meet you."  
He looked at her, signaling for her to name herself.  
"Oh, my name is Vanessa." Vanessa replied, looking back at him curiously. "A town, you say?"  
Darion nodded, crouching down at the foot of the bed and placing his sword on the ground. "Indeed. You arrived unconscious, but welcome to the town of Garen."  
The name meant nothing to Vanessa. She had never heard of the town, not that she could remember if she herself had ever been to any town.  
"You're currently in the town's infirmary." Darion continued. "Or more precisely, an extension of it. Too many people coming back with too many injuries lately."  
"Injuries?" Vanessa replied in concern. "Are you at war?"  
Unexpectedly, Darion laughed, which Vanessa found rather rude if people were indeed becoming hurt or worse.  
"Hah! The town wouldn't survive a war." Darion responded. "Truth be told, we're not very big, us here in Garen. Hardly anything more than a village. So when I say infirmary, I really mean an inn that also tends to the sick, so don't worry about attacks."  
Vanessa relaxed again, then moved onto her next question.  
"What about the chimera?" She asked. "I found it in the forest, and I collapsed running away from it."  
"Taken care of." Darion assured with a dismissive wave of an armored hand. "I found you while patrolling with my partner, Lanett. Heard it not long after deciding to take you back to town, and she said she'd rather go take care of the beast than put up with me. Came back without a scar, too."  
Vanessa couldn't help but sigh in relief. Not only was she now assured of her own safety, but no one else had gotten hurt because of her. She could almost feel an emotional weight leaving her conscience.  
"That being said, I have to ask... Darion continued, tone becoming more serious. "What were you doing out there in the first place? And what is with the insignia on your helmet?"  
Surprised, Vanessa looked down to her lap, where her helmet rested, positioned like it was staring at her, the gold symbol on its front still a mystery to her. It looked like a sphere connected to three-pointed star, skewed in such a way that it could have resembled a sword pointed face down, but Vanessa had no idea as to whether that was the case or not.  
"I...don't know." She finally answered. "But as for what happened to myself..."  
She began to tell her entire story, from the hazy imagery of her first vision until waking up where they were currently lodged in. Darion listened on intently, with his sword wedged into the earthen floor and his chin rested on the handle. He never interrupted, nor did he make any attempt to joke about her tale. The only responses he made throughout was an encouraging nod for her to continue after every pause.  
When she was finally done, he took a breath. "So, no memory at all?"  
Vanessa shook her head glumly. "Not aside from the dreams I've had, and I can't tell if those were just imagined."  
A brief moment of silence followed as Darion mulled it over.  
"Well, the elemental cycle is correct." He said. "Fire defeats wind, which in turn conquers water, which extinguishes fire, and the loop continues. I had a feeling you were fire, seeing your color."  
"Color?"  
Darion nodded. "Many of us contain one of the five elements you've mentioned, including the outliers of light and dark. It's hard to explain, but we're compelled to the colors of our elements, intentional or not. You bear red, the color of fire, much like light and the silver and white on my armor."  
Vanessa observed her helmet once more, staring at the red and black plates which were trimmed in gold. Red, the color of fire. It now made sense as to why the chimera in the forest had scared her more than it should, it being a beast of water, but she certainly did not feel like a fire elementalist. There was not even a hint of the power of fire in her.  
Perhaps her external emotions hinted at her troubled feelings, because Darion spoke up again. "Hey, don't worry about yourself." He offered. "You've been through something else over the last few days, and don't remember much. It may still come back to you."  
Vanessa nodded half-heartedly. Seeing as how things had been over the past few days, she would not have been surprised if her powers had indeed abandoned her.  
Again, she must've been showing signs of despair, because Darion approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. When Vanessa looked up to him, she could see him smile comfortingly at her, believing in her capabilities more than she did.  
"Come on, no need to get discouraged before you even try." He chided, rising up to stand again. "I'll try and help you best I can, but I can't be more than support for you. So why don't we start by getting you cleaned up for now?"  
Vanessa hastily agreed after a moment's pause, remembering that she still must have looked horrible, having yet to clean herself. She stood up as well, helmet in hand, swaying hesitantly as her legs took the weight of her body once again. She didn't feel up to full strength, but she could definitely stand, which was better than being collapsed on the ground.  
"Ready." She said with a nod.  
Darion led her out, and Vanessa took one last look back at her temporary room, with a feeling that she would not be setting foot in one for some time.

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 **And that's the end of Chapter 2. Initially, I was going to merge what will be Chapter 3 into this, but I decided to keep my chapters short for now, because spending too long on a chapter tends to get as tedious as grinding Giant's B10 on auto.**  
 **Hope you all approve of the choice of secondary character in the form of Darion. I you do, then I guarantee a lot of you will like the next character that will be introduced. But until then, ciao for now!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! So who's the new character? You'll find out very shortly...**

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 **Chapter 3: A Promised Sword**

What Darion had said about Garen being no larger than a village was surprisingly accurate.  
It didn't even give the impression of a village. It was more of a collection of stone and wooden structures mixed with fenced lands populated by crops or livestock, surrounding by a thick ring of trees, save for a gap that a dirt path ran through, which Darion said was a route to other locations. The air was clean and fresh, faintly smelling of freshly-cut grass, adding to the quaint and comforting mood of the village, as if nothing could ever upset its tranquility.  
As Darion explained the most important aspects of the town, starting with the inn they had departed from, Vanessa took down mental notes. The inn was run by an elegant woman who introduced herself as Hwahee, who Vanessa could easily remember by the vibrant colors of her dress and the extensive braid that went down behind her knees. According to Darion, travel was common across the land, and each town had an inn for travelers to rest in. Garen was also no more than an agricultural village, famed for the high quality of its crops and lumber that never seemed to satisfy the demand from other towns.  
Aside from the inn, there were a few dozen houses where the town population resided in, as well as one residence that had been converted into a local bath house, segregated in a way that allowed men and women to bathe without the company of the one another.  
The baths themselves were luxurious, compared to the relative simplicity of the rest of the town. Floors had been removed and replaced by large, shallow stone pits filled with water, which could then be warmed with the addition of hot stones nestled on a collection of hot coals nearby, a feature Vanessa was more than grateful for as she submerged herself, the steam rising off the hot water doing an admirable job in concealing her bare skin.  
The relief was incomparable as well, the warmth relaxing her muscles while the water wiped away all the dirt and sweat she had accumulated over the previous days. She was at peace with herself, her mind at ease for the time being.  
Eventually, her mind began to wander again, after mulling the irony of a fire elementalist bathing in water, supposedly the greatest weakness of the flame. Perhaps it was the warmth or the absence of fire in her, but all the bath did was calm her nerves and rejuvenate her senses.  
There had been no new visions, nor had there been explanations of her abrupt arrival into unfamiliar land. There also had not been any explanation about where her power of fire had gone, had it been there to begin with. It all bothered her. She wanted answers. She wanted reasons as to why and how she had ended up where she was. Darion's willingness to help her had only spurred on the feeling, even though she was reluctant to ask him for help on a matter which would likely not be resolved quickly.  
"I know my way around." He had said before she had been left to bathe. "Like I said, I was a vagabond. A wanderer. I know my way around the land, and I wouldn't mind going back on an adventure."  
Vanessa let herself submerge further, trying to ignore the warmth in her cheeks. She had been flattered by his desire to help her, even though they were still mostly strangers to one another. Part of her was thankful for help on what could be a long adventure, but another part was hesitant to take him along in case something went wrong.  
She raised her head back up, taking in a deep breath before sighing. Reluctance was not going to get her anywhere, and she knew she needed all the help available. If Darion was willing to help, she would accept it gratefully.  
"Is everything alright?" Someone said behind her.  
Vanessa yelped at the sound of a stranger being nearby, instinctively covering her most vulnerable spots, even though she was still shrouded by the bath's steam, while she turned to see who the unannounced visitor even was.  
The voice was too feminine to belong to Darion, and was not courteous enough to be Soha, the lady who maintained the bath house and had a few curious resemblances to the mystical nine-tailed fox, not least being the fox-like ears and trademark nine tails.  
Instead, Vanessa found herself facing a younger, more normal woman, who wore a colorful, full-length dress that shone in the colors of fallen autumn leaves, blending red, orange and yellow into one outfit, completed with a white sash tied tightly around her waist. Unlike Vanessa, she didn't seem startled, her brilliant orange eyes looking more bored than anything else, one hand carrying a set of fresh towels while the other absently fiddled with her short, dark brown hair. Vanessa couldn't help but notice the similarities she bore to Hwahee, albeit she was much younger, had shorter hair, and a clothing color palette all of her own.  
"Relax." The lady in the dress sighed annoyedly. "I'm just here to check on you, or fulfill any of your requests."  
"C-could you at least have given some indication of your presence?" Vanessa stammered in embarrassment, highly uncomfortable to be concealed only by the clouds of steam in the room. "I really don't need anything, Miss...uhm..."  
"Chasun." Her attendant responded without much enthusiasm, laying down the towels. "You must be the wanderer they pulled in a few days ago on the verge of death."  
"Yes... Vanessa muttered in response, not wanting to be reminded of her situation so soon. "And I suppose now you'll be going on some journey to rediscover yourself and why you ended up here?"  
Chasun must have seen the look of surprise on Vanessa's face, because she rolled her eyes and continued. "Yes, I've heard. Darion's my friend too, and he can't keep his mouth shut if he tried."  
"You don't say..." Vanessa sighed, lowering herself deeper into the water again. She appreciated Darion's good intentions, but she would have preferred it if he had kept quiet about her situation, even to a friend of his. The last thing she wanted was attention, but she seemed to attract it anyway.  
Chasun turned away and began to leave, not needing to stay around. "I must say, I'm quite jealous of you." She said, speaking over her shoulder. "Some of us don't get to leave town, let alone embark on an adventure."  
And with that, she left, letting her words hang in the air. Her tone had made her jealousy and disdain clear, that she would rather be the one going on an adventure. And Vanessa was inclined to agree on that. What she did not agree on was Darion telling everyone about herself, because she didn't even know what to make of her situation yet.  
She shifted around for a while, then decided to rise from the water. Her brief conversation with Chasun had dampened her mood, and someone needed to find Darion and seal his mouth shut.

"Hey, I had my reasons." Darion said when confronted.  
They had agreed to meet at the town armory, which was not much more than a large, solid shed storing rows of old or unused weapons, and the tools needed to make new ones. Vanessa had re-equipped her armor, even the helmet to complete her appearance. As much as she did not want to wear an insignia that she could not even recognize, she wanted to show Darion that she was serious. Seriously annoyed with him.  
"Look, Chasun's more than just a friend." He explained, still seated on the bench driectly outside the shed, his hands raised in front of him and trying to ease Vanessa's irritation. "She's a top-notch healer who helps out in the infirmary when needed. I don't know how long you'll need to find the answers to yourself, but it would be a travesty if some accident kept you from doing so."  
Vanessa huffed, but reluctantly agreed with him. He was right. He knew the area better than she did (which wasn't difficult), and knowing that there were monsters out in the wild, any extra support, especially someone who could tend to a wound at a moment's notice, would be a huge blessing.  
"You could have mentioned it to me first." She replied with a shake of her head, trying hard not to add 'you also could have told me who we would be travelling with'. Her first impression of Chasun had not been a good one, and she was not looking forward to any more amount of time travelling with her.  
Darion, on the other hand, did not seem bothered by the thought of that. "Well, now that that's settled, how about we get you a weapon?" He offered, gesturing to the armory.  
Vanessa nodded and entered the shed. Getting a weapon had been her own idea, as she did not want to be left unarmed while facing a monster again. Even though she had no memory, she had a feeling that she would be skilled with at least some sort of weapon. Her armor told her that much.  
But the selection inside was rather underwhelming. Swords, bows and daggers rested on racks, many of them in usable condition, but as she tried them out, it became more apparent that none of them would suit her. The swords were too heavy to be used efficiently, she couldn't hold a bow straight or aim properly with one, and the daggers made her feel uncomfortable and exposed with the short range that they offered. Darion tried to give her pointers, but they improved little.  
"Try to stab forward with it. Okay, don't stab me. Oh, I see what you mean by not having a place to hide the dagger..."  
Vanessa must have gotten through at least fifteen different weapons before she tossed down a two-handed sword like Darion's and slumped forward. Nothing felt comfortable, but she was going to have to choose from one of them if she couldn't find something that did fit her style.  
She knelt down next to the sword, which had landed between two of the racks, and then stopped. Part of the wall was cracked, having been eaten away at either by time or by some kind of vermin, but it was letting sunlight shine through, where it was reflecting off of something small and red. "What this?" She breathed as she reached out for it. It felt enough like metal to her fingers, so she grabbed ahold of it and pulled it towards her. What she lifted was what she had been looking for.  
It was a rapier, long and narrow, with a grippy handle that fit perfectly within her hand. The metal shone red, even the pommel that kept the open parts of her hand concealed. She felt confident just by holding it, and that only grew once she thrust it forward, where it pierced the air exactly as she wanted it to, light enough to hold and attack with but still weighted and sharp enough to skewer anything it would hit.  
Darion watched onward in silence, intrigued by Vanessa's new found vigor while wielding the rapier. "I will be honest." He finally admitted. "I did not know we still had that. No one else ever wanted to use it."  
If Vanessa had been paying attention, she might have found it cruelly befitting that a discarded sword would be the perfect fit for her, but she could not care less. It wasn't just a matter of liking the weapon she had selected, it felt more like destiny, like she had been chosen to hold it. More than that, it felt familiar to wield, as if her body remembered what her mind did it.  
"Hey, you alright?" Darion asked, tapping her on the shoulder. She blinked and rose to attention, not realizing that she had spaced out while contemplating her new sword. Suddenly the future did not seem so intimidating.  
"I'm fine." She responded, turning to face him. "More than that, I'm ready."

* * *

 **Anyone else find it odd that the unawakened Valkyrja's, which originate from Norse mythology, have a sword that originates from Spain? And what even is the name of the blade they use when they're awakened? And why can I not stop finding them adorable? (Akroma pls show up in my summoning circle. Pls.)**


End file.
